fcience. A multiplicity of objects here opens upon the mind, of which I fhall content myself with felecting two or three for particular confideration.

As the noblest distinction of a human being is the use of language, that art which teaches to use it in the best manner, or the art of compofition, may take the lead under this divifion. By ftudying its principles, fo as to be able to enter into all the beauties and delicacies of fine writing, a fource of entertainment of the highest kind is provided, independently of the power acquired of imitating what we admire. I have already touched upon this fubject in my letter on the advantages refulting from a tafte for poetry: but it is capable of great extenfion by comprehending the art of criticism in all its branches. This comprises an accurate research into the nature of language in general, and the genius of thofe particular languages. in which the student is converfant; an acquaintance with the character of ftyle in all its diverfities, and the various figures of fpeech employed to adorn and invigorate it; a knowledge of the effential diftinctions between the different fpecies of compofition; and a familiarity with all the principal works of different ages and countries, in order to trace imitations and form exact ideas of comparative merit. The number of capital productions in verfe and profe to which the ancient and a few of the modern languages give accefs, is fo great, that the critical study of them will furnish employment for all the leifure any scholar can command; and fo feductive is this branch of literature, that perfons claffically educated are often feen to make it almoft the fole occupation of life. To its intrinsic value was formerly added fo high a degree of reputation attending a proficiency in it, as placed it almoft at the head of intellectual purfuits. This was derived from its real importance at the time of the restoration of ancient learning, when to give accurate editions of the claffics, and elucidate them by commentaries, was one of the most useful tasks in which a scholar could engage. Since this bufinefs has been tolerably completed, and other ftudies have taken the lead in public estimation, the art of criticifm has fomewhat declined in dignity; though it still stands high among that clafs who are peculiarly termed the learned, and the adepts in it themfelves appear little inclined to yield the precedence they formerly affumed. It must be allowed in their favour, that the acquifitions neceffary to arrive at distinction as a critic are extremely various, and imply af fiduous cultivation of the understanding. Many of them, too, are fo elegant in their nature, that we may reasonably wonder they have not more generally tended to polifh the manners and humanize the temper. That they have not greatly conduced to enlarge the mind is lefs furprifing, fince for the most part they confift in points of knowledge that are limited to their specific objects, and terminate in themselves. The nicities of Greek and Latin profody, which it might coft fome of the best years of life to acquire, are, to modern, at least, mere infulated fate, derived from authority; and

though the formation and mechanism of language is, in fome fenfe a branch of philofophy, yet it is of a kind which bears little upon other topics. In undertaking to explain the fenfe of an author, indeed, the critic or commentator must be master of all the knowledge referred to by that author; and this will often oblige him to take a wide range through the hiftory, mythology, arts, manners, and cuftoms, of antiquity. But what a mass of extravagance and abfurdity must he encounter in this progrefs! and how must his memory be burdened with a multitude of trifling particulars! How fully thefe occupy the mind, to the exclufion of more valuable matter, is evident from the grofs ignorance occafionally difplayed by annotators when they touch upon topics which ought to be determined by an appeal to fact rather than to books. I confefs I fhould feel hefitation in accepting the mental stock of a Saumaife, a Scaliger, a Bently, and a Bruman, high as they rank in the records of erudition,

The preceding obfervations, however, refer more to the critic by profeffion, than to the private ftudent, who has no occafion to enter further into the examination of authors, than to obtain a juft perception of their excellencies and defects. This end is perhaps better attained, by studying those principles of good tafte in writing which are deducible from the philofophy of the human mind, than by a close attention to all the minute particulars of diction, which is apt to interfere with, rather than to aid, thofe larger furveys on which an enlightened judgment of whole works must be formed. Criticifm thus exercised is one of the most agreeable, and certainly not of the leaft dignified employments of the mental faculties; and few topics are better adapted either to closet amusement, or to liberal and cultured converfation.

I fhall fay little refpecting thofe agreeable ftudies which have for their object the cultivation of a taste for the fine arts. The propriety of engaging in thefe depends partly upon natural talent, but principally upon the opportunity of having recourfe to fpecimens of art of the most perfect kind, by way of example and illuftration. Without fuch a reference to practice, the ftudy of the theory will be apt to terminate in pedantic felf-conceit, expofing the fancied proficient to the ridicule of artists and real connoiffeurs. The eye, and even the hand, should be exercised in order to fit a person for judging on these points. Neither the power nor the limits of art can be exactly known without trial; and delicacy of tafte is only to be acquired by comparison of the performances of great masters.

Mathematical studies must already be fuppofed to ftand high in my estimate, fince I have placed in the first clafs thofe large and fubHime views of nature, fome of which could not originally have been formed, nor can now be comprehended, without the principles of mathematics. But befides their undoubted value as means, they have by many been purfued ultimately, as affording the highest and pureft exercise to the intellectual powers. Fully fenfible of my own

inadequacy to judge of their worth in this refpect, and fearful of giving way to partiality, I fhall only speak of them from obferving their effects upon others. As far as I have remarked, few of thofe who during the early part of their lives have gone deep into mathematics, acquire fuch a relish for them, as to be induced fpontaneoufly to continue their application to them at an after period. Whether it be that they find the requifite mental exertion too fevere, or that they become wearied with ftudies which offer no further prospects, and furnish no materials for converfaton-it seems to me to be the fact, that mathematical pursuits are usually deferted, as foon as the incidental motives which caufed them to be entered upon, or the first ardour of curiofity, have ceafed. Where this has not been the cafe, they are fometimes found to occupy the whole mind, to the exclufion of all other fubjects, pleafant or ufeful; and furely the ideas of figure and number alone are infufficient to fill the compafs of the human understanding. A ftory is told of a profound mathematician, who being with difficulty perfuaded to read through Homer's Iliad, coldly obferved at the conclufion, that he did not find that the author had proved any thing. It would, however, be very unjust to represent this infenfibility as the universal refult of mathematical ftudies. Many inftances may be produced of their alliance in the fame perfon with polite and philofophical literature. Of thefe it will fuffice to mention the late celebrated D'Alembert, a distinguished member at the fame time of the Academy of Sciences, and the French Academy, and an admired writer on a variety of topics. A proficiency in abftract mathematics is certainly an undoubted proof of great mental capacity; and I fuppofe the extent of the ftudy is fuch, that no apprehenfions need be entertained of exhaufting its objects. Whether, with no further view, it be worth while to expend fo much time and exertion upon it, I leave you to determine for yourself.

Without tracing further the circle of human knowledge, I shall bring my letter to a conclufion after a general obfervation. No kinds of study can differ more from each other than the fame from itself, as pursued by a man of a strong, and by one of a weak underftanding. The firft will render a fmall object important; the fecond, an important one, little. The hiftory of literature abounds with instances in proof of this affertion-I fhall mention one. Elias Afhmole in the last century obtained confiderable reputation here in the multifarious character of a philofopher. He was an aftronomer, but this noble science in his hands turned to judicial astrology. He was a chymift, but under this title alchemy was the real object of his purfuit. He was a naturalist, but his tafte rather led him to be a collector, than a scientific obferver of nature. He was an antiquary, and in that capacity made large collections for the history of freemasonry in this country: afterwards he foared to the most noble order of the Garter, the hiftory of which, with all its laws and inftitutions, was his opus magnum. In this man were united the val

able qualities of induftry, exactnefs, and perfeverance; but the foundation of good fenfe was wanting. How different from one • qui nil molitur ineptè,' all whofe pursuits were directed by a found understanding! Such an one was the wife Franklin, who from the most trivial facts could deduce the most important conclufionswho had always fomething truly valuable in profpect-and whofe touch converted every meaner material to gold.

It is not, then, merely the fpecies of ftudy, but the mind and spirit with which it is purfued, that fhould regulate our estimate of the intellectual powers of the ftudent. Folly often conceals herself under the mask of seriousness, and wisdom is sometimes light and playful. The latter knows she hazzards nothing by occafionally defcending from her dignity; whereas folly lofes all by lofing appearances. A great latitude of mental occupation may be admitted, provided good fenfe prefides over all-that quality which truly is, as our ethical poet afferts,

Though no fcience, fairly worth the feven.

ON FEMALE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

From Edgeworth's "Practical Education."

OMEN cannot foresee what may be the tastes of the indi

W viduals with whom they are to pals their lives. Their own

tastes should not, therefore, be early decided; they fhould, if poffible, be fo educated that they may attain any talent in perfection which they may defire, or which their circumstances may render neceffary. If, for instance, a woman were to marry a man who was fond of mufic, or who admired painting, the fhould be able to cultivate these talents for his amufement and her own. If he be a man of fenfe and feeling, he will be more pleafed with the motive than with the thing that is actually done. But if it be urged, that all women cannot expect to marry men of fenfe and feeling; and if we are told, that nevertheless they must look to "an advantageous " establishment;” we must conclude, that men of rank and fortune are meant by that comprehenfive phrafe. Another set of arguments must be used to those who fpeculate on their daughters accomplishments in this line. They have, perhaps, feen fome inftances of what they call fuccefs; they have feen fome young women of their acquaintance, whofe accomplishments have attracted men of fortunes fuperior to their own; confequently, maternal tenderness is awakened, and many mothers are fanguine in their expectation of the effect of their daughters education. But they forget that every body now makes the fame reflections, that parents are, and have been for fome years, fpeculating in the fame line; confequently, the market is likely to be overstocked, and, of course, the value of the commodties muft fall. Every young lady (and every young woman is now

a young lady) has fome pretenfions to accomplishments. She draws a little; or the plays a little, or fhe fpeaks French a little. Even the blue-board boarding schools, ridiculed by Mifs Allscript in the Heirefs, profefs to perfect young ladies in fome or all of thefe neceffary parts of education. Stop at any good inn on the London roads, and you will probably find that the landlady's daughter can fhew you fome of her own framed drawings, can play a tune upon her fpinnet, or fupport a dialogue in French of a reasonable length, in the customary questions and anfwers. Now it is the practice in high life to undervalue, and avoid as much as poffible, every thing which defcends to the inferior claffes of fociety. The drefs of to-day is unfashionable to-morrow, because every body wears it. The dress is not preferred because it is pretty or useful, but because it is the diftinction of well bred people. In the fame manner accomplishments have loft much of that value which they acquired from opinion, fince they have become common. They are now fo common, that they cannot be confidered as the diftinguishing characteristics of even a gentlewoman's education. The higher claffes in life, and thofe individuals who aim at distinction, now establish another fpecies of monopoly, and fecure to themselves a certain fet of expensive mas. ters in mufic, drawing, dancing &c. and they endeavor to believe, and to make others believe, that no one can be well educated without having ferved an apprenticeship of fo many leffons under fome of these privileged masters. But it is in vain that they intrench themselves, they are purfued by the intrufive vulgar. In a wealthy, mercantile nation, there is nothing which can be bought for money, which will long continue to be an envied distinction. The hope of attaining to that degree of eminence in the fine arts which really deferves celebrity, becomes every day more difficult to private practitioners, because the number of competitors daily increases; and it is the interest of masters to forward their pupils by every poffible means. Both genius and perfeverance must now be united to obtain the prize of distinction; and how feldom are they found, or kept together, in the common courfe of education !

Confidering all these circumstances, is not there fome reason to apprehend, that in a few years the tafte for feveral fashionable appendages of female education, may change, and that thofe will confequently be treated with neglect, who have no other claim to public regard, than their proficiency in what may, perhaps, then be thought vulgar or obfolete accomplishments? Our great grandmothers diftinguished themselves by truly fubftantial tent-work chairs and carpets, by needle-work pictures of Solomon and the queen of Sheba. These were admirable in their day, but their day is over; and these useful, ingenious, and laborious fpecimens of female talents, are configned to the garret, or they are produced but as curiofities, to excite wonder at the ftrange patience and miferable destiny of former generations: the tafte for tapestry and embroidery is thus paft; the long labors of the loom have ceafed. Cloth-work, crape